Vettel takes victory in dramatic Monaco Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel resisted immense pressure from Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button to take victory in an incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix.

By winning the famous race in the streets of the principality, the reigning world champion extends his lead in the standings with a massive 143 points. This is a remarkable achievement from the Red Bull Racing driver.

Vettel opted against pitting during a mid-race safety car period, and ran an impressive 56-lap stint on the super soft Pirelli against all expectations, gaining track position over previous leader Jenson Button.

That left him ahead when the race was red-flagged, at which point Sebastian Vettel, second placed Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button – who had dropped to third after pitting just before a mid-race safety car – were all allowed to fit new Pirellis on the grid.

By discarding the old tyres for fresh new rubber, it sealed the victory for the Red Bull driver. The eventual winning margin was 1.1 seconds ahead of his Ferrari rival, who was a similar distance clear from the McLaren.

The race went down to a six-lap sprint following a red flag for a crash involving Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari and Lewis Hamilton, that was triggered by Pastor Maldonado passing Adrian Sutil for sixth position at Tabac.

The one-stopping Sutil, who had ran fourth for quite a while but was dropping back on old used Pirelli, smacked into the armco exiting Tabac and punctured his right-rear tyre. While trying to avoid the slowing Force India, Petrov ran into the back of Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, which in turn hit the rear of Hamilton’s McLaren.

Alguersuari and Petrov hit the barriers hard, forcing the race to be stopped with six laps to the flag and necessitating Petrov’s extrication from the Renault by the medical team.

Having lost the lead to Button thanks to a sluggish pit-stop on lap 16, Vettel opted against pitting when Felipe Massa’s mid-race crash brought out the safety car.

Button, who had already stopped twice by this stage, was clearly the faster driver on his fresher Pirelli, but had also lost track position to Alonso during the safety car period.

Button made his third pit-stop on lap 48 after becoming stuck behind Vettel, but reduced an 18-second deficit to less than a second with eight laps to go. His problem, however, was that Alonso’s Ferrari was in between them.

Button’s hopes of race victory rested on his rivals tyres going off before his, as both Vettel and Alonso switched their strategies and opted against making further pit-stops. The red flag and subsequent tyre changes on the grid put paid to that, however.

Mark Webber finished fourth, having dropped as low as P14 early on due to a 15-second stop as Red Bull pitted him on the same lap as his team-mate. Webber’s two-stop strategy left him with fresher rubber than many of the cars around him during the second half of the Grand Prix, allowing the Australian to pass Kobayashi, Sutil, Petrov and Maldonado within the final 15 laps.

Kamui Kobayashi ceded fourth to Webber after missing the chicane with two laps to go, but still collected the best result of his career. As for Maldonado, the Williams driver was on his way to finishing sixth, but he crashed out at Ste Devote with five laps remaining following contact with Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s rear wing was damaged in the Petrov/Alguersuari accident, but the mechanics were able to fix it during the red flag period.

His race was very frustrating. Passed by Michael Schumacher’s slow-starting Mercedes at Loews hairpin on the opening lap, he lost a significant amount of time when the German’s rear tyres dropped off at an alarming rate within ten laps.

Even after passing the seven-time world champion at Ste Devote with a great move, his pace was compromised as he became bogged down in a seven-car battle for fourth place behind Sutil.

Hamilton, Webber and Felipe Massa all came together at Loews on lap 34 – an incident that Hamilton was deemed to have caused and received a drive-through penalty for – but by that time Massa was out, the Ferrari driver having hit the wall in the tunnel as Hamilton passed seconds later.

Hamilton eventually finished sixth, ahead of the lapped Sutil, Nick Heidfeld’s Renault, Rubens Barrichello’s Williams and the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi.

Paul di Resta finished in P12 after receiving a drive-through penalty for the same reason as Hamilton – colliding with a car at Loews – but the Force India driver also damaged his car in the incident with Alguersuari and was force to pit for a new nose/front wing.

Schumacher did not make the finish, his Mercedes grinding to a halt just ahead of Alonso as the safety car came out for the Massa crash. Timo Glock was the only other retiree, the Virgin driver’s right-rear suspension failing just before half distance.

Vettel’s fifth win from six starts extends his dominant start to the season. But Formula One will reflect on an incident-packed weekend in Monte Carlo, which ends with two drivers, Vitaly Petrov and the non-starting Sergio Perez, recovering from injuries.

Race results from Monte Carlo, 78 laps:

1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           2h09:38.373
2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +1.138
3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +2.378
4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +23.100
5.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +26.900
6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           + 27.200
7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
8.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +1 lap
9.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +1 lap
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
11.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +1 lap
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +2 laps
13.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +2 laps
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +2 laps
15.  D’Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +2 laps
16.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +3 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +3 laps
18.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +5 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.234

Not classified/retirements:

Petrov        Renault                      68 laps
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari           68 laps
Massa         Ferrari                      33 laps
Schumacher    Mercedes                     33 laps
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              31 laps
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               1 lap

World Championship standings, round 6:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel       143
2.  Hamilton      85
3.  Webber        79
4.  Button        76
5.  Alonso        69
6.  Heidfeld      29
7.  Rosberg       26
8.  Massa         24
9.  Petrov        21
10.  Kobayashi     19
11.  Schumacher    14
12.  Sutil          8
13.  Buemi          7
14.  Perez          2
15.  Barrichello    2
16.  Di Resta       2

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          222
2.  McLaren-Mercedes          161
3.  Ferrari                    93
4.  Renault                    50
5.  Mercedes                   40
6.  Sauber-Ferrari             21
7.  Force India-Mercedes       10
8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          7
9.  Williams-Cosworth           2

Next race: Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal. June 10-12.

11 thoughts to “Vettel takes victory in dramatic Monaco Grand Prix”

  1. Sebastian Vettel admitted he opted for a “risky” one-stop strategy because he was determined to try to win the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The championship leader decided to stay out while his rivals pitted during the opening safety car period, the German having to do a 56-lap stint on a set of soft tyres.

    In the end, his cause was aided by the race being stopped with six laps to go, as he was allowed to fit new rubber to go the distance when Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were right behind him with fresher rubber.

    Vettel said the decision to not stop was his, as he thought it was his only chance to win the race.

    “It is fantastic,” said Vettel. “It was a very long race and a long way to the chequered flag and at some stage the victory seemed quite far away.

    “The safety car came out and we got back in the lead but it was quite difficult to stay ahead. It is difficult to pass here but they had such better grip. I called to box and I said I wanted to stay out as it was the only chance to win the race.

    “It was getting close and with six laps to go before we had a suspended race. Obviously I was struggling with my tyres but I think we could have made it to the end.

    “Then I saw the red flag and it was good to hear Vitaly was fine, and we were able to change tyres as I could get rid of these old tyres and then had another short sprint race to the chequered flag.

    “We took the risk. We wanted to win and we got the reward. I am happy and it is an extreme honour. It is one of the best grands prix all year and surely a nice one to win.”

    The world champion also conceded it would have been very hard to beat McLaren’s Button if not for the first safety car period.

    “I think at the end of the day, surely if there had been no safety car it would have been difficult to beat Jenson as he was so far ahead, but there was a safety car. We have been looking after our tyres, even under pressure.

    “I had a race here two years ago where my rear tyres were gone. I stayed ahead of Felipe a long time, but then they found their way past. We learned from that. So last year the car was good, and this year it was good enough to win. I am very happy.”

    Vettel, who has won five out of six races this year, is now 58 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the standings.

    Source: Autosport.com

  2. The latest on Vitaly Petrov as reported by Autosport.com.

    Vitaly Petrov has escaped injury following his crash at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The Russian driver made contact with the barriers after crashing into the back of Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso with six laps to go.

    Although the impact was at relative slow speed, the Russian stayed in the car and reported pain in his left ankle.

    He was taken to hospital for checks, and Renault said there was no swelling or broken bones.

    The team said as a precaution, Petrov will undergo a full body scan but “he should be back in the paddock within a few hours”.

  3. Fernando Alonso believes that a late race stoppage could well have cost him victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The Ferrari driver finished just 1.1 seconds behind race winner Sebastian Vettel, but had far fresher tyres than the Red Bull driver and had reduced a 7s deficit to nothing in the time that elapsed between a mid-race safety car and the red flag on lap 72.

    With every driver allowed to fit new tyres for the restarted race, Alonso’s advantage was nullified. The Spaniard, however, feels that had this not happened, he could have overtaken the German and won the race.

    “I think we gained one position with the first safety car [by overtaking Jenson Button for second place] and maybe we lose [the] victory in the last red flag,” said Alonso.

    “I really think in the last eight or nine laps, the tyres on the Red Bull were struggling a lot – certainly in the last part of the circuit.

    “There was nothing to lose for me. I am not leading the championship. I will try and win the race and if we crash, we crash.”

    Alonso was nevertheless satisfied with his runner-up spot, which was the best result of the year for him and the Ferrari team.

    He paid tribute to the team for bouncing back after a below-par performance in Spain last week, a race at which Alonso led for the first 18 laps, but finished fourth, a lap behind winner Vettel.

    “Third in Turkey and now second here, so it was a good weekend for us,” Alonso added. “We were quick on Thursday and quick in qualifying, so it was okay for us.

    “I am extremely happy because the team needs this result and the podium after some weeks with difficulties. Seven days ago in Barcelona we were 1m30s behind the leader, so this is a much more normal weekend for us and a good motivation for the guys.”

    Alonso’s result kept him fifth in the World Championship, but reduced his deficit to fourth-placed Button to seven points. He is 74 points adrift of Vettel.

    Source: Autosport.com

  4. McLaren’s Jenson Button admitted post-race that he was disappointed not to have won the Monaco Grand Prix, as he was the fastest driver on fresh Pirellis. Autosport.com has the details.

    Jenson Button admitted he was disappointed after being unable to win the Monaco Grand Prix, having looked like the favourite at stages of the race.

    The McLaren driver opted for a three-stop strategy that looked to be working in his favour until the safety car periods hampered him.

    In the end, Button had to settle for third position, and although he refused to consider himself unlucky, the Briton did admit he was hoping for much more.

    “I don’t know if you can call it unlucky,” said Button. “We went for the strategy we did. On lap 16 we thought it was the right strategy to be pulling such a lead. It was great and the car felt good and I thought it would continue that way.

    “The safety car mixed things up a little bit and in hindsight we should have put the hard tyre on, the prime tyre, but at that time the safety car hadn’t come out.”

    He added: “It just didn’t go our way today. It is disappointing as we didn’t put a foot wrong, but it was fun. I still enjoyed the race, especially trying to pull a gap on these guys.

    “It was good fun watching because when you are the third car it is good fun as the car in second has DRS. I was waiting for a move. It was either going to come off or not. Not a bad result but we obviously hoped for a lot more.”

  5. Rubens Barrichello welcomed his first points of the season after ending Williams’s drought in the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The Brazilian finished in ninth position, putting an end to Williams’s worst start to a Formula 1 season, with the team having failed to score in the first five races.

    Barrichello admitted he was sorry he gained a place after the retirement of team-mate Pastor Maldonado but was pleased to finally get some points.

    “With six laps to go, I thought tenth was the best result we were going to achieve today,” he said. “I ended up ninth, but not in the way I would have liked to as it was at the expense of my team-mate. We lost some really good points for the team so that is disappointing.

    “I’m happy that I’ve broken my run of bad luck though. The safety car didn’t help us as our one-stop strategy would have worked well had I not just done my pitstop before it was deployed.

    “There are positives and negatives to take from today, the positive being we scored some points.”

    Maldonado, who was looking set for an eighth place finish, was very disappointed after retiring with six laps to go when he was involved in the Vitaly Petrov accident.

    “The final result was not what we wanted but the rest of the race was good. My pace was strong but after the re-start Hamilton tried a very ambitious manoeuvre at the first corner and that was the end of my race. I’m really disappointed not to come away with any points today.”

    Source: Autosport.com

  6. After a frustrating Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has hit out on the race stewards for being penalised. Autosport.com has the story.

    Lewis Hamilton hit out at Monaco Grand Prix race stewards after being penalised for over-aggressive driving during the race.

    Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable incident with Felipe Massa while the pair disputed 10th place.

    He was then informed following the race that another incident – a collision with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams – was being investigated.

    “Out of six races, I’ve been to the stewards five times. It’s a joke,” Hamilton told the BBC. “It’s an absolute frickin’ joke.”

    When asked why he thought stewards had been paying attention to his driving this year, he joked: “Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says. I don’t know.”

    Hamilton said that he had not been to blame for the Massa incident, which occurred at the Loews hairpin on lap 34 as the two – and Mark Webber’s Red Bull made contact.

    “I was quite a lot quicker than Massa,” he added. “I went up the inside, and the guy turned so early and just turned into me. So I tried to go over the kerb to avoid him and we were stuck together.

    “And of course I get the penalty, which is usual. He [Massa] held me up in qualifying and I got the penalty. He turned into me, and I got the penalty.”

    He also denied that he was at fault for causing Maldonado to crash at Ste. Devote with three laps remaining in the race as the pair battled for sixth spot.

    “I went up the inside of Maldonado and you can see on the [TV] screen that he turned in a good car length too early to stop me overtaking him and he crashed into me.

    “It’s just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin’ ridiculous. Just stupid.”

    Hamilton’s sixth place came after a frustrating weekend on which he had set the pace in the first two parts of qualifying, but then been caught out by McLaren’s strategy in Q3 before he was dropped to ninth on the grid for missing the chicane on his best lap.

    After being mired in the midfield for the whole race, he said that his determination to overtake rivals would not be dimmed by the events of the grand prix.

    “It’s not hurting my confidence as a driver. I just think the sport is… People want to see my racing, want to see overtaking and [then] you get done for trying to overtake. You get done trying to put on a show. You get done trying to make a move.

    “Fair play, if I really feel that I’ve gone too late and hit someone, I’ll put my hand up and realise [that] I really have caused an incident and I’ve been the stupid one, but it is not the case [today].”

    Hamilton’s result retained his second place in the championship, but dropped him to 58 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel, who won the race.

    Lewis Hamilton has been given a penalty for having caused a collision with Pastor Maldonado in the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The Briton, who got his qualifying time deleted on Saturday and got a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with Felipe Massa during the race, was handed another drive-through post-race after his crash with Williams driver Maldonado.

    The McLaren star was given the penalty after the race, which means 20 seconds were added to his final time. Hamilton keeps his sixth place despite the penalty.

    Hamilton was very critical of the stewards after the race, labelling their decisions as a “joke”.

    “Out of six races, I’ve been to the stewards five times. It’s a joke,” Hamilton told the BBC. “It’s an absolute frickin’ joke.”

    He added: “I went up the inside of Maldonado and you can see on the [TV] screen that he turned in a good car length too early to stop me overtaking him and he crashed into me.

    “It’s just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin’ ridiculous. Just stupid.”

    Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and Force India’s Adrian Sutil were given reprimands post-race for incidents during the event.

  7. As for Felipe Massa, the Ferrari driver has called the sport’s governing body to apply further penalties on Lewis Hamilton following their clash in the Monaco Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.

    Felipe Massa has called on the FIA to issue further penalties against Lewis Hamilton following a collision between the pair during the Monaco Grand Prix.

    Hamilton made contact with the Ferrari driver at the Loews hairpin on lap 34 as he tried to pass his rival on the inside of the corner, driving over the kerbs in the process and knocking the nose of Massa’s car against the rear wheel of Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

    Massa retired after crashing in the tunnel seconds later, an accident the Brazilian said was due to damage caused by Hamilton – who was given a drive-through penalty for causing the incident.

    “He tried to pass me on the kerbs [when] I didn’t think it was possible to overtake,” said Massa. “He was too aggressive, I think.

    “Then when I got to the tunnel my car was damaged and I went on the dirty part of the track and hit the wall. What he did today was unbelievable. Not just with me, but with other drivers as well.

    When asked by AUTOSPORT whether further sanctions were needed in a bid to calm Hamilton’s driving, Massa said: “Yes. I think he needs to be penalised again, and in a good way – otherwise he doesn’t learn.

    “They [the FIA] need to think about something for him, or he will not learn.”

    Hamilton, who finished sixth on-track, was later given a 20s penalty in place of a drive-through for colliding with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams with four laps to go. It did not affect his finishing position.

    When asked whether he thought Hamilton was the most problematic driver to race against in Formula 1, Massa replied: “Maybe he is the one spending the most [time] with the FIA [stewards]. I don’t know.”

  8. Even the Williams driver has criticised Lewis Hamilton’s driving in the race. Autosport.com has the story.

    Pastor Maldonado accused Lewis Hamilton of being ‘too optimistic’ after the McLaren driver collided with him and ended his race in the closing stages of the Monaco Grand Prix.

    Speaking before the stewards of the meeting added 20 seconds to Hamilton’s race time as a punishment for the incident, Maldonado – who was running sixth when the crash happened – explained that the shunt had cost him a great opportunity to score the first points of his career.

    “I think he tried the same manoeuvre on myself that he tried on Felipe [Massa],” said Maldonado. “Exactly the same, he was too optimistic.

    “This is a very narrow track and you must be very careful with your overtaking, I made very many passes during the race and I never had some problems because I was very convinced to do it. For sure he was maybe in some troubles because of his position – he is fighting for the championship.

    “I think we did a great job until the crash.”

    Asked whether he thought Hamilton’s attempted pass at Ste devote had been dangerous, Maldonado replied: “I don’t know the stewards will decide.

    “This corner is always very difficult because the corner is on the left side and you have all the straight, but it is not that straight it was one long corner, and when you arrive at that corner you find that the corner is exactly on the left so…

    “It’s always difficult to overtake there, you must be side-by-side and he wasn’t. I think he was too optimistic because of the condition of the race. He was on the super-soft option tyres.”

    Maldonado added that he was hugely disappointed by the outcome of the accident, having performed strongly all weekend.

    “Oh for sure ten points gone,” he said. “They were important points for me. The team did a great job this weekend.

    “I know the track very well and I was doing my job 100%. My pace was competitive, even with Ferrari at the beginning and even quicker than Renault and Mercedes. That is how the race is, we need to look forward now.”

  9. Force India driver Paul di Resta commented that his ambitious driving cost him a top ten finish in the Monaco Grand Prix. Autosport.com provides the details.

    Paul di Resta believes that his “ambitious” driving cost him a points finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.

    The Force India driver ran 13th early on, but collided with Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso at the Loews hairpin on lap 24.

    The British driver needed a replacement nosecone after the incident, and was also given a drive-through penalty for causing it.

    Later he had a near-identical incident with Jerome d’Ambrosio’s Virgin at the same corner, again damaging his nose and receiving a second drive-through penalty. He eventually finished 12th.

    “I think it was all running quite smoothly to begin with and our strategy seemed to be going well,” said di Resta.

    “After my first pitstop the team told me that to make the strategy work I needed to pass Alguersuari, so I tried to overtake him at the hairpin. That’s when I made contact and damaged my front wing, which is why I had to make an early second stop.

    “I have to hold my hands up for this accident because I was probably a bit too ambitious. It’s a shame because the car was working well and without this incident I think I could have scored some points.”

    Di Resta’s team-mate Adrian Sutil copied winner Sebastian Vettel’s one-stop strategy and held fourth place for almost 40 laps after surging forwards when the safety car came out at mid-distance.

    However, on worn tyres, he slipped back to seventh by lap 72 and sustained a right-rear puncture after hitting the barrier at Tabac as he was passed by Pastor Maldonado. He finished a lapped seventh.

    “Our plan was to do a one-stop strategy,” said the German. “When the first safety car came out I pitted to take the option tyres and I knew I would be on them for a very long time. I tried to make them last, although they dropped off with about 15 laps to go and that’s when I had a big train of cars behind me.

    “It was then that I ran wide on the marbles at turn 12, which gave me a right rear puncture. But that’s when the safety car came out and I pitted to change tyres so I didn’t lose too much ground. So I was in eighth when the race restarted and ended the race in seventh.

    “It’s a great result for the team and we’re all very happy because we’ve been waiting a while for this.”

  10. Red Bull Racing has revealed that its race-winning one-stop strategy in the Monaco Grand Prix came about by accident – because the team put the wrong tyres on at his first pitstop of the race.

    Vettel had been leading the early stages of the Monte Carlo event when he made a stop to react to nearest challenger Jenson Button’s early change of rubber on lap 15.

    But although the team had planned to keep Vettel on super soft rubber for his second stint, a communication problem within the Red Bull Racing garage saw him accidentally switch on to the soft.

    In the end, it was Vettel’s ability to keep those soft tyres alive until the closing stages of the race, when it was red flagged following a crash, that proved key to his maiden Monaco victory.

    Speaking about the issue, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said: “It was a communication problem where the radio got jammed.

    “The plan was to box both the drivers on that lap, but unfortunately the radio got jammed so the guys in the garage did not get the call. They didn’t know what tyres they were supposed to be putting on the car.

    “In the end, a set of primes went onto Seb’s car and that wasn’t the plan. We were going to stick a set of options on to cover Jenson but in the end, we said, ‘okay, this isn’t a disaster we need to engineer our way out of it.’ And after a bit of number crunching we managed to get our way out of it.”

    Horner said that Red Bull Racing initially reckoned it would need to make another stop to have tyres that were in good condition until the end of the race – but it was Vettel who had different ideas.

    “We were on the hard tyre and it was a question of looking at what the options were to get us back into contention. The best option was to go very, very long and even one stop, which on lap 20 we thought was a bit aggressive to do 60-odd laps on the prime.

    “Jenson made our life slightly easier by going on options and options again, and then it was a question of what to do. It was a risky strategy but Sebastian made it work. He knew what the situation was and he drove accordingly to protect the tyres.”

    He added: “For me it was a world champion’s drive today. He soaked up the pressure, he focused on his efforts, and he was lucky with the accident that happened ahead of him to not get collected.

    “When the race stopped he had a reprieve to get a new set of options until the end of the race, but I think even without that he would have won.”

    Source: Autosport.com

  11. Following the Monaco Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton voiced his opinion about the race stewards. Autosport.com has the story.

    McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says the Monaco GP stewards “accepted” Lewis Hamilton’s explanation of his “poor joke” following the Monaco GP.

    The angry British driver slated the stewards after being penalised during and after the race.

    When asked by the BBC why he thought the stewards had been paying attention to his driving, he said jokingly: “Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says. I don’t know.”

    Whitmarsh said after the race that Hamilton had returned to talk to the stewards and that they had accepted the explanation.

    “Immediately after the race he was very down, and during a post-race TV interview he made a poor joke about his penalties that referenced Ali G,” he said.

    “However, I’m pleased to say that he chose to return to the track a little while later to speak to the stewards about the joke. They accepted his explanation.”

    The team boss conceded his driver had endured a very difficult day.

    “Lewis had a frustrating afternoon,” said Whitmarsh. “I guess the reality is that, if you start anywhere other than at the front of the grid here in Monte Carlo, you’re always going to run the risk of getting involved in incidents – especially if, like Lewis, you’re a forceful driver who never, ever, gives up.

    “But that’s Lewis. That’s why he’s such a fantastic driver – and that’s why watching him race is so thrilling. So, yes, he’s disappointed, because he’s been seriously quick all weekend here, but that’s Monte Carlo; that’s racing; that’s life.”

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